


Poolside

by elizabeth_darcy



Series: Pride and Prejudice [8]
Category: Pride and Prejudice & Related Fandoms, Pride and Prejudice (2005), Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Swimming, F/M, Pool, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 12:13:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7891846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elizabeth_darcy/pseuds/elizabeth_darcy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just a casual day at the Bingleys' pool.</p>
<p>Darcy struggles with new feelings for Lizzy.<br/>Lizzy struggles with Darcy's pride.<br/>Caroline struggles to get Darcy's attention.<br/>Jane and Bingley, on the other hand, just struggle to have a nice time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Poolside

"Will!" Charlie shouted from the pool, "Come join us! The water is cold; it feels great!"  

"No thank you, Charlie," he said, in-between flipping pages on his Kindle. He laid under an umbrella in black jeans and a black t-shirt.

Lizzy sighed and put her own book down. As much as her copy of _Les Miserables_ wanted to be reread for the dozenth time, she figured she should at least do something other than sit around today.

She took off the large shirt covering her bikini and reached her hand out, "Come on, Darcy. I know that you've sworn to be miserable for the rest of your life, but you shouldn't make  _me_ be miserable. I don't want to third wheel for Charlie and Jane."  
"Ask Caroline."

Lizzy sighed and looked over several yards at the girl as she sun-bathed, "You know she won't come with me. Please, Darcy?"

He met Lizzy's eyes, "No. I don't have sunblock on and I don't want to go change into my swimming trunks."

Lizzy rolled her eyes and headed towards the pool, crossing her arms. What an asshole he was.

Lizzy cannon-balled in and the splash reached much past the edge of the pool.

Caroline lowered her sunglasses and laughed haughtily, "She is beauty, she is grace..." she mocked. Darcy glared at her, and she stopped.

He watched as she wadded over to Charlie and Jane and joined in their conversations.

Darcy may not have the courage to join Lizzy in the pool, but that didn't mean he didn't want to. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and went back to his book. Why would he want to join them anyway? Water in your eyes, wrinkly fingers and toes, messy hair, awkwardness as the three of them talked while he watched with nothing to say,  _Lizzy_...

Nope, nope, nope. Why not just read this book? Sure, he loathed fiction books, but Lizzy had been reading it all of today, and- if he could finish it before the end of the day- he'd finally have something to talk to her about that wouldn't end in an argument. Well, _hopefully_ wouldn't end in an argument...

Darcy watched as the three in the water started chuckling and splashing each other dramatically, leading to an all out 3-way splash war.

Who was he kidding? He would love to be out there in the water.

He looked back at his Kindle. No chance. He didn't need Lizzy to see him without a shirt on; he'd be _way_ too self-consci...

Wait, since when did he care about how he looked around her? He shook his head. No, he didn't care. Of course he didn't care. Why would he care? If she saw him looking terrible, then so be it. It was just... _Caroline_! Yep, Caroline. Caroline would just ogle at him and not stop bothering him for the rest of the night if she saw him without a shirt. Caroline was the problem. Yep. Not Lizzy. Not at all. Completely Caroline.

The splashing had died down into fits of laughter, and Darcy watched as Lizzy said something that made Charlie laugh so hard he fell off his pool noodle. Darcy wished he could have heard it; he was sure that it was something clever.

Just as he was pitying himself for this, he watched the three wade to the edge of the pool to get out.

They all joked as they returned back towards their chairs. No, wait- not their chairs. _Darcy's_. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!

"Come on, Will, time to take a dip in the water..." Charlie laughed.

Jane and Charlie grabbed his hands as Lizzy took the Kindle out of his lap..

They all dragged him off his chair and started pulling him towards the pool. "Seriously, guys, don't. Come on, this is ridiculous-" he tried to fight against it, but Lizzy started pushing from behind and he knew he was screwed. "I'm not wearing a swimsuit! _Please?_  I'm wearing _jeans_ for Christ's sake. You guys, come on, I didn't bring another set of clothes! I don't want to spend the entire car ride home sopping wet-"

With one last shove, they sent him into the water. He came back up to surface and ran his fingers through his hair, grumpily crossing his arms. Lizzy, Jane, and Charlie jumped in after him, laughing their heads off.

"Thanks a lot, I'm soaked!" He whined.

"That was the point, Darce," Lizzy chuckled, "And will you stop complaining for five seconds? Just enjoy it, the water feels nice."

Darcy managed to keep a frown on his face, but in reality he was happy to be near Lizzy. They all started swimming towards the center of the pool, as they were before, and Lizzy grabbed Darcy's hand to drag him with them (which he was thankful for, because otherwise he would have had to have stayed where he was or gotten out of the pool, you know- in order to look like he hated being in there). He also savored the feeling of her hand in his, even if their fingers weren't intertwined.

Lizzy looked really good in that swim suit. Like, _really_ good. Her hair had been messily tossed around, but she still looked gorgeous. And-

  
_What was he even thinking_? Since when did he start thinking so much about Lizzy Bennet?! Since when did his eyes always draw towards her when she was ever in the same room?! Since when did he pay so much attention to what she had to say?!

"Fine, fine! I'll join you guys in the pool, but I'm not happy about it. And if my makeup gets ruined, I'll kill you!" Caroline exclaimed, as she began trying to wade through the pool on her tip toes. Guess she didn't want to be the only one out of the water. Or maybe she just wanted to be near Darcy...

 

***

 

"Well, c'est la vie!" Caroline laughed. Then she turned to Darcy abruptly, "Oh, wasn't speaking different languages on your list?"

Darcy's eyes grew wide. Oh, god, his list of an accomplished woman. _Nonononono_.

It was obvious that she had planted that phrase into the discussion so, 1) Caroline could prove _she_ was up to his standards, and 2) Caroline could prove that Lizzy was not. And that infuriated him.

"What list?" Lizzy raised an eyebrow, curiously.

"Caroline," Darcy gave a grave look to Caroline to tell her to cut it out. But Caroline just tilted her head innocently and pushed on.

"Oh, you remember, that list you have of an accomplished woman? Didn't you vow to never date a woman unless she fit- _and hopefully exceeded-_ these standards? Let's see here, she needed to be able to play two instruments well, be physically fit, have visited at least four different countries in her lifetime thus far, know how to _properly_ dance, listen to music other than pop, have good posture, have at _least_ a Bachelor's Degree-"

"My god, Darcy!" Lizzy interrupted, looking over at the man who was cringing terribly, "And you expect to find someone like this? I can tell you right here and now that a woman like that does _not_ exist!"

Darcy looked over at her quizzically, "What are you talking about? I know several girls like this!"

"Clearly you don't know them well enough."

Charlie laughed.

Darcy glared at him.

"Come on Jane, why don't we go get some snacks for everyone," Charlie suggested, wanting nothing more to do with this conflict. Jane heartily agreed and they were out of the pool immediately.

"I agree with Will," Caroline continued after they were no longer in sight, "I know numerous people like this. Will's sister, in fact, is a _very_ accomplished woman."

"I was unaware his sister was someone he was interested in dating," Lizzy snorted.

Caroline glared, "That's not what I meant."

"Of course it wasn't. You meant to be kissing Darcy's ass by complimenting his sister."

"How dare you!" Caroline seethed.

Darcy let out a chuckle.

Lizzy raised an eyebrow to him, as if to say 'Oh, that was funny? Because I have a lot to say about you, too, buddy...'

Darcy understood the message and shut up.

Lizzy rolled her eyes and sighed, "Well, while you two provide such _stimulating_ company, I think I'm done with swimming for the day..."

Darcy frowned and watched as Lizzy jumped out of the pool and returned to her lawn chair.

"God, I thought she'd never get the hint..." Caroline muttered to him under her breath.

He sighed. Back to square one...

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!
> 
> Leave a comment/kudos if you did or drop by my tumblr: were-what-killed-the-dinosaurs.tumblr.com
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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